Page 17 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Kairhyse

I don’t know what I was to expect—she’s a fucking Vampire, for Gods sakes. Delusion kept me from thinking anything other than her being a fling. I’m Mundane. Nothing more, nothing less. What could I offer her other than feeding and amazing sex?

The high their venom gives has a strange effect on me; sure, it’s like a drug, but it helps me concentrate. It’s what originally drew me to want to be with a Vampire. It could kill me with the amount she’s fed from me, but Beyond, I didn’t care the moment she would sink her teeth into me.

So it’s not crazy of me to think that it would be my own addiction that would keep her tethered to my side. I was so, so wrong.

We’ve been seeing each other on and off for about a year now, and I’m ready to call it quits.

Elizabeth just isn’t who I foresee myself being with for the rest of my Mundane life.

I’m freshly thirty-two, no kids, not married—and as much as I’d like to say I can see those being a possibility with her, that would be a lie.

We can’t have kids, and my parents wouldn’t approve of me marrying a Vampire.

They aren’t prejudiced, per se, but they know that in a few years when I begin to wrinkle and she stays youthful, she’ll find herself out with another.

Even if Elizabeth swears up and down she loves me and would never, I’m no fool.

“Liz, please.” We’ve been at this argument for hours, maybe days…

I can’t be sure. The sun had been up when she arrived at my place, and now the alley cats are rummaging through the trash just outside my window, looking for their moonlit dinner.

“Let me be cliché here. It’s nothing you did.

It’s nothing I did. It’s about my future. I’m Mundane, what do you ? —”

“We can fix that! I can! Kairhyse, I can’t see myself living without you.”

Shaking my head, I put my hands up. “We have had this discussion; I don’t want to be a Vampire. I enjoy my Mundane life and want to live it out to its fullest. You, more than anyone, know I can’t do that with you… no matter how much it pains me.”

Her crimson eyes soften, a plea in them for me not to do this. When she raises her hand to her arm and squeezes, small divots press into her alabaster skin.

Maybe I’m a terrible person, but from the beginning I was very clear I never had intentions of being turned. It wasn’t like I led her to believe anything else.

Smiling gently, I cross the room to her. She doesn’t back away, and I embrace her in a hug.

I never saw her obsession with me as anything more than her falling in love, or that she was just addicted to feeding from me as I was a willing free host. Maybe if I had paid more attention to the subtle signs, I’d have seen it coming.

“I’m sorry, Kairhyse.” Her voice is a mere whisper against my chest.

“Don’t be sorry, Liz, it isn’t anything you did. We can’t help what we are.” I stroke through her dark brown hair, giving her one last squeeze before I inevitably let her go for the last time.

Or, at least that was the plan.

The sharp pierce of her fangs into my neck is brief, because moments after, I hear a popping sound, and then… darkness. I don’t think I registered any pain, but I truthfully can’t remember. It isn’t until I’ve groggily woken that I even feel I’m on the floor.

When I blink, it takes a moment to take in the world around me. Everything is blurry, and only when I rub my eyes, shifting my contacts off my irises, does the world come into focus.

“What…” I move to my knees and pinch out both of my contacts before lifting my gaze.

The room is crystal clear, and it’s like I’ve regained my perfect vision from when I was a teen.

As if the attack that stole the sight in my left eye never happened.

I swear I can see the dust in the air, and immediately, fear sets in.

I can hear a soft thumping sound, like that of a beating drum, but subtle. When I look over my shoulder in its direction, I see Elizabeth standing there with her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

“You’ll come to love it,” she says through a choked sob. “Love me…”

My movements are quick and purposeful. I’m up on my feet and rushing toward my bathroom.

“Wait, Kairhyse, please don’t freak out.”

I flip the light switch on, purely on instinct, because I could see perfectly fine in the dark room as I entered.

Though, it isn’t like I need to see my reflection to understand what is going on.

I don’t need to see the light shade of red slowly darkening as I stare at my eyes.

The scar on my right brow is completely gone, and the slight discoloration on my top lip is also absent.

Any imperfections on my skin is no longer there.

I imagine it’s the same across my body, but I’m not in the headspace to check.

She turned me…

“Kairhyse… baby, say something.”

My mouth falls open, and I can clearly see the tips of my fangs hanging from my top set of teeth.

“You…” I release a breath, unsure of what to do, or say. She just took my life from me. “Crazy… fucking… bitch.” My gaze shifts in the mirror to look at her standing in the doorway.

“You’ll come to see you were making the wrong choice.”

I can’t keep my mouth from opening wider, shock all too prevalent in my expression. “Crazy bitch. Undo it.”

She smiles, and I swear I’ve never hit a woman, but that is about to change. “I can’t undo the Vampiric Night, baby ? —”

“Don’t call me that, Elizabeth. What the fuck!?” I whirl around on her. “Are you insane?! Why?” My voice is elevating while my hands shake so bad I fear I’m going to do something irrational.

That smile of hers stays as she tilts her head. “Insane for you. Now we can be together, Kairhyse. In time you’ll come to understand what I did was for you… for us.”

I’m lost in a nightmare, that is all this is. The moment I wake up, it will be behind me. I’ll come to—in bed alone—tomorrow, having broken it off with Elizabeth, and my life will get back on track.

Except, I’m no fool.

This is real, and she just ended my life for her happiness.

We turn onto the familiar Bison Road, the smooth pavement of the highway giving way to gravel as we enter a corridor of trees. Sydni sits in the front seat, her head turned over her shoulder, gazing at me with a sorrowful expression.

I hadn’t spoken to anyone about my turning in so long—not even Xeraphine—but when my little butterfly asked, I couldn’t say no. Not now.

“I’m sorry…” she offers somberly. “What a crazy bitch.”

I nod. “Agreed, but don’t apologize. That was over three hundred years ago, and I’m settled in my fate.”

“Is your creator still alive?” Niyla, who is sitting beside me, asks.

Resting my elbow on the door’s armrest, I fix my gaze on Sydni .

“No, I killed her about thirty years later. Took her that long to let her guard down. I was finally able to take her head off in the middle of the night, then I burned our house to the ground for good measure.”

Syd, I can tell by the look on her face, is drawing comparisons between Xeraphine and me.

I’m doing the same. Even if she’d been born a Succubus, it seems more apparent every day that my girl would’ve preferred a Mundane life.

And maybe I would’ve too, back then. But now, I’m grateful for the Vampiric Night.

It brought me to my little demon, and it will keep me with her for eternity once I’ve got her back.

Other than her question about how I was turned, the entire car ride to Eldritch has been silent. It’s stayed that way because there’s only one question I need to ask Alaric. He claims it’s irrelevant, but to me, it’s everything: What the fuck is a Fallen?

Sydni has been texting me throughout the drive, stating that there’s nothing online about what a Fallen could be. She says all that comes up is fallen heroes of the Old War. I can’t see that being what he was referring to, but who the fuck knows?

“How often do I need to feed?” She asks me specifically, not Niyla.

Although she seemed to relent to feeding when we left Sidence, the bottle of blood has remained untouched in the cupholder for the past twelve hours. It’s probably undrinkable by now, and while I desperately need her to eat, I won’t force her.

Not yet, at least.

“Depends. Once a day while you are this young is for the best, but the older you get, the longer you can go between feedings.”

Her head falls against the back of her seat. “Do you think Phiny will feed me?” she whispers, her frown deepening.

Even if I don’t feel like doing so, I smile and nod my head. “Of course, butterfly.”

It doesn’t escape me that I hear the subtle squeeze of leather, and when my eyes flick to Alaric who is driving, he is squeezing the steering wheel. His comment about me feeding from Xeraphine flashing across the forefront of my mind.

What is his fucking deal?

“I don’t want to feed on anyone but her.” My head shifts back to Sydni as she continues, “So I guess we better get her quickly.”

She swings her gaze to Alaric, her expression teetering on a snarl, and I can’t help but love it. My little butterfly is about to spread those wings of hers—and they’re razor sharp.

“You.” She juts her finger right at him. “I don’t trust you, and when I say you better not try anything snaky, I mean it. ”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I smirk. A chuckle comes from Niyla, who surprisingly also has a grin on her face.

“I get enough threats from one Vampire. Do I not deserve a break?” There is no humor in his tone as he sighs.

“No.” Her huff and the way she readjusts in her seat is downright adorable. I can tell she’s fuming, though it comes across more like a pout.

Sydni has always been carefree and gentle, but this…

this is something different. I caught a glimpse of it when Xeraphine was first taken, but now it’s on a whole new level.

I know that if I give her the means, she won’t hesitate to tear someone in half to get my girl back.

I’m inclined to want to see it, truthfully.

“I’m tired of this bullshit, I’m just—” Alaric cuts himself off as he slams on the breaks, bringing the car to an abrupt stop. I’d have questioned the dramatics, but in front of us is a gigantic wolf, bright yellow eyes piercing through the dead of night.

Brice.

He’d ridden his motorcycle ahead of us, much faster, arriving at the Asylum a good twenty minutes before we hit the Bison Road.

Alaric is already out of the car, and the three of us follow closely behind him.

Werewolves, unlike Shifter wolf breeds, are significantly larger, their human forms a reflection of their animal counterparts.

Brice is massive—that’s putting it mildly—easily three times Sydni’s size and twice my own, so it makes sense that his wolf form is just as imposing.

His massive head turns toward Syd, who scrunches her lip in mock defiance before quickly sticking her tongue out at him. I’m surprised she doesn’t flip him off before she sidles up to stand beside me.

I offer the Werewolf a smug grin, a silent means of telling him to back the fuck off .

Brice shakes out his fur as he approaches Alaric, and when his mouth opens, I am blown away to hear him speak. “ We have a problem .”

I’ve never interacted with a Werewolf in their natural form, and truthfully, I’m not sure why I’m taken by surprise. I make duplicates of myself, and Xeraphine can manipulate her blood. Why wouldn’t I be able to hear a wolf talk?

“What’s wrong?” Niyla asks, coming to stand on the opposite side of Sydni.

“ Are we sure this is the right place? ”

I’m the only one here that has any experience with this place, so I nod. “Yes, the Asylum is just at the end of this road.”

A low growl rolls from his throat. “ When were you here last? ”

I feel like this is a moot point. And they’re concerned about our questions wasting precious time. “Why?”

He shifts, turning away from us. “ Leave the car. ”

As he barrels down the strip of road, I shift to Sydni, who has her eyes already on me.

“Run like you normally would. Your actions are just twice as fast,” Niyla offers, and places her hand onto her shoulder. Sydni immediately pulls away from her.

Watching as my butterfly runs straight after Brice, disappearing into the distance, has me sighing heavily.

Poor thing…

Sensing Niyla stepping to me, I look at her through the corner of my eye. “Not all creators wish to control their created. If I could separate our connection, I would.”

I’ll forever be grateful that she turned Sydni, because I can’t imagine a different outcome. I don’t even want to consider what kind of world would exist otherwise. I can only guess the type of chaos Xeraphine would unleash. That doesn’t change the fact that none of this should have happened.

Even if they haven’t outright said it, Alaric and his group knew something was off. I don’t buy for a second that Brice was following Sydni out of the goodness of his heart. Sure, he might actually have feelings for her, but that’s secondary to whatever Alaric’s real motives are.

“I just hope you understand your fate.” My tone carrying the weight of my words. When I turn my head forward, Alaric is gone, and soon, so am I.

It doesn’t take me but a few minutes to make it to the parking lot—or, what the?

“Wait,” I say aloud to no one in particular.

There are no cars parked in the area which previously housed a paved parking lot. The once-illuminated area, now as dark as the mountains that shadow the backdrop of the once-functioning building.

For a moment I question if we had taken the wrong road, because as I’m staring up at an edifice choked with overgrown vegetation, shattered windows, and broken doors, I’m thinking this can’t be the same place.

“Rhyse…” I can’t look down at Sydni who grabs onto my arm, because I am transfixed on the sight ahead of me. “This can’t be right… can it?”

It isn’t the silence that is eerie… no, it’s the smell of death that permeates from the building. It’s fresh. Too fresh.